Southwest Georgia Technical College (SWGTC) maintains a grievance process available to all students that provides an open and meaningful forum for their complaints, the resolution of these complaints, and is subject to clear guidelines. This procedure does not address complaints related to the unlawful harassment, discrimination and/or retaliation for reporting harassment/discrimination against students. Those complaints are handled by the State Board Procedure: Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination of Students.
1. Informal Complaint Procedure. Student complaints should be resolved on an informal
basis without the filing of a formal grievance.
A. A student has 10 business days from the date of the incident being grieved to resolve
their complaint informally by approaching their instructor, department chair or any
other staff or faculty member directly involved in the grieved incident.
B. Where this process does not result in a resolution of the grievance, the student
may proceed to the formal grievance procedure.
2. Formal Complaint Procedure. Where a student cannot resolve their complaint
informally, they may use the formal grievance procedure.
a. Within 15 business days of the incident being grieved, the student must file a formal
grievance in the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs (VPSA) with the
following information:
i. Name,
ii. Date,
iii. Brief description of incident being grieved,
iv. Remedy requested
v. Signed, and
vi. Informal remedy attempted by student and outcome
b. If the grievance is against the VPSA, the student shall file the grievance in
the Office of the President.
c. The VPSA, or his designee, will investigate the matter and supply a written
response to the student within 15 business days.
d. If the grieved incident involves possible unlawful harassment, discrimination
or retaliation for reporting unlawful harassment/discrimination, the
investigation will be handled pursuant to the State Board Procedure:
Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination of Students.
e. If the grieved incident is closely related to an incident being processed
through the disciplinary procedure, the disciplinary procedure will take
precedence and the grievance will not be processed until after the
disciplinary procedure has run its course.
f. The VPSA, or his designee, shall be granted an additional 15 business
days to investigate the grievance upon notice to the grieving student.
3. Appeal of Staff Response: If a student is unsatisfied with the response
from the VPSA, the student may appeal the decision to the President of
the College. The College staff has no right to appeal.
a. A student shall file a written appeal to the President within 5 business
days of receiving the response.
b.The appeal will be decided based entirely on documents provided by the
student and the administration, therefore, the student must ensure that
he has provided all relevant documents with his appeal.
c. At the President’s sole discretion, grievance appeals may be held in
one of the following two ways:
i. The President may review the information provided by the student and
administration and make the final decision; or
ii. The President may appoint a cross-functional committee comprised of
5 members, including one chair, to make the final decision.
iii. The decision of either the President or the cross-functional committee
shall be made within 10 business days of receipt by the President of
the appeal.
4. Whichever process is chosen by the President, the decision of the grievance appeal is final.
Retaliation against a student for filing a grievance is strictly prohibited.
5. Record Retention
Documents relating to formal grievances including investigations,
dispositions and the grievance itself shall be held for 5 years after
the graduation of the student or the date of the student’s last attendance.
Responsibility
The Vice President for Student Affairs has the overall responsibility for ensuring this procedure is implemented
Reference:
SBTAE V.R. Student Grievances Policy
SBTAE V.R. Student Grievances Procedure
Adopted: 10/26/2010
|
